


The Prince of Darkness

by 2000pancakes



Series: The Royals (Reylo) [2]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Reylo - Freeform, kylo sees Rey in a pretty dress part 2, many non canon elements, prisoner rey, they kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-22 06:56:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13161648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2000pancakes/pseuds/2000pancakes
Summary: --Follow up to: The Queen of Zalfar (read that first)--Prologue.





	1. Prologue

She was in darkness... disorientating darkness. 

_Where was she?_

Rey couldn't move, her hands were restrained.

_What had happened?_

_Oh yes, the Queen... the First Order General... the soldiers... the trap._

_And behind it all, Ben._

She struggled, but she felt weak. Even the force seemed dull.

She reached out for him, she wanted to talk to him. 

She didn't have to look far.

As her stomach sank, she realized that he was standing just a few breaths away from her.

"Hello, Rey."


	2. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren and Rey meet in person for the first time since the battle in the throne room.

In the darkness he was standing, right in front of her. She could make out his silhouette, nearly see his eyes glimmer in the dark.

"You knew," Rey said to him, "all that time, you knew."

Kylo walked to the wall and switched on a light, Rey looked at him, "you didn't warn me. No, why would you. It was probably your master plan anyway."

"It was Hux's actually. He managed to find out that you were visiting a certain Royal that we were having trouble with as well, we came to an agreement."

"Is that why you couldn't kidnap me in person?"

Kylo turned away from her, "I couldn't."

Rey looked at him, "coward."

"Do you think I do nothing around here?" Kylo snapped, still not turning back.

"I think if you weren't so obviously ashamed you would've come and taken me yourself."

"Enough", he turned around, his arm out, "you will tell me where the resistance base is."

"No," Rey said, "anyways, once they figure out I've been taken prisoner by the First Order they'll find another base fast enough."

Kylo lowered his hand, removing the glove from it, "and, will you join me, Rey?"

Rey looked into his eyes, "no."

"There are times when you're unsure," Kylo took a step towards her, "there are times when you feel like you'll simply fall to me, give in," he raised a hand to her cheek, "yes, I know. I heard you while you were in the garden."

His finger tips barely touched her skin when Rey had to quickly pull herself away, there wasn't much room to move away from him, but Kylo drew back as soon as she did. He put the glove back on and stepped away.

"But don't you want to?"

"No." Rey breathed, she could feel the hesitation in her voice.

"You wouldn't have to fight anymore, Rey. You wouldn't have to feel the burn every time you see me in your dreams, every time you see me. You wouldn't have to feel like a leaf trying to fight in. If you gave in, I could have you, you could have me."

"Not..." Rey began, "not until you've found the light again."

"You don't understand, Rey. You _still don't understand_ ," he turned away from her opening up the door, "I have found the light," he looked over his shoulder briefly and their eyes met, "I found you."

The door closed and the restraints on Rey opened. She fell to the floor, looking to the door. 

 

Hux was waiting for Kylo down the corridor, "well," he asked, "did we get anything."

"Not yet, her mind is too strong. It will weaken."

"Perhaps if I..." Kylo raised his hand to stop him from speaking, it closed into a fist.

Hux could feel the panic rising in him and the impression of a hand formed around his neck. 

"If you or one of your torture droids so much as touch her, I will kill you." He pushed Hux into the wall before walking off.

 

Rey sat on the floor, knees pulled up to under her chin. She was still wearing the last dress she had had on from Zalfar. Her fingers touched the fabric, as Kylo's had that night in the palace.

It was incredibly soft and smooth. A last taste of the luxury of Anara. 

As she was sitting she felt that familiar echo in the room. She pushed herself up, "Ben?"

"I'm here," he was standing behind her, by the door again, "well, not with you. I'm in my quarters."

Rey turned away, "alright."

"Rey," he said, "you think you're the only one here who's suffering."

Still she didn't look at him.

"You don't think that I am haunted by you every moment, that in every hour I can see you, I can feel you reaching out to me."

"I don't reach out to you."

"Maybe not consciously, but I feel it, Rey. And it's painful, it's infuriating it's..." he breathed, "it's humiliating to have to need someone as much as I need you."

"Then why not join me?" Rey asked, "join the resistance, leave the First Order, help us bring hope."

"The resistance is a lost cause, you, Rey, are letting yourself be dragged in circles by them." Rey could feel him come closer to her, "I'm not asking you to join the dark side, I am not asking you to abandon your vision of hope."

Rey turned around and quickly jolted back when she realized how close he was.

"I'm asking you find a new hope, with me."

"I can't," Rey said, the lump in her throat made the words come out like a whisper, "I can't abandon my friends, they're all I have."

"They will be safe."

"They will never forgive me."

"And I will never forgive you."

Their eyes locked.

"You... you need to let go, Rey. That's what's holding you back. You're letting yourself be controlled by them, let go. Let go and you will be so, so free, Rey."

"How can I be free with you?" she asked.

He took her hand in his, "you'll be free from the storm in your mind, from the conflict in your soul. You'll finally reach the calm you're looking for."

A tear fell from Rey's eye, "I can't. I couldn't let myself. I'm not like you."

He let his hand slide up her arm, touching the fabric of her dress, "no, you're not. You're stronger than I am," his hand stopped in its path, resting on her collarbone, "but you don't need to be strong, Rey, not with me."

Rey's eyes traced his face, his scar, his lips, "I can't," she said again, with more strength.

"You'll never be alone with me."

As she looked at him, she realized that he had caught her in one of her moments. One of the moments where all she wanted was to accept his offer, to take his hand, to stop fighting that unstoppable motion that was pushing them together. She wanted to cup his face in her hands, to tell him everything she had ever feared, everything she had ever loved and lost. She wanted the feel of him against her, two beating as one.

But then he was gone.


	3. Solitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren contemplates his inner conflict.

Kylo was walking with Hux through the barracks, "we have found the remnants of a Resistance base, but it seems they've left."

"So you were too late, General?"

"We already have a few leads on where their base is going to be set up next..."

"Your last lead was sure that they would be here."

"Well, Supreme Leader," the muscles in Hux's jaw tensed, "it was... poor timing."

"Find the base. Don't disappoint this time."

As Kylo turned to leave Hux asked, "have you gotten anything out of the girl yet?"

"I'll get what I need from her."

"Be careful, Ren." Hux said to him.

Kylo turned around, "what did you say?"

"I said be careful, this is the girl who murdered Supreme Leader Snoke? Is she not?"

"Yes, she is."

 

Kylo stood for a long time outside of the interrogation room where Rey was. She was sleeping, he sensed. As he used to force to reach her, he could hear her slow, rhythmic breaths. And her dreams... shattered images. Her friends in the resistance, memories of Jakku, their fight in the forest, their battle in the throne room... and then he saw himself. 

He closed himself off. It was wrong to do that, he thought. He shouldn't be doing that.

He left the door to the room and went to his own chambers, locking the doors behind him. 

 

And there he was, alone. He sat on the edge of his bed, trying to ignore the burn that was starting to spark again in his chest. It often came at times like these, when he was alone.

When he wasn't organizing another battle or talking to Rey it often came to this.

The loneliness seeped in, like shadows. 

Out of desperation he would try and reach out to Rey, but he found he could not. She was in her own world now.

He started removing his clothes, starting with his gloves. Wearing a vest and his pants, he collapsed onto his bed, closing his eyes.

He was tired, so tired. Of everything. And even with eyes closed, he couldn't escape her. There she was, standing before him. "You betrayed me, Ben." She was saying. 

"I never wanted this."

"You never had to."

He could feel her breath on his neck, her hands on his... he could hear her voice whispering in his ear, " _come to the light, please."_

"Rey, please don't do this."

And she was away from him again, taunting him with the crushing space left between them.

She, Rey, like a sun shining into his eyes.

Rey with such a beautiful soul that had dared to reach out and touch his, to break him. 

"It's so cold," her voice came, "in the dark, Ben. So very, very cold."

And then came the burn, the flame she always ignited. It ate at him, trying to burn its way through the walls he had built in his mind, to try and tear them down. In his dream he would look for her eyes in the fire, her words in the ashes.

_"It's tearing you apart."_

"But I don't belong to the light." 

Then she was standing there, before him, as if he could touch her, but it was only a dream.

_"I thought I was the light, and I thought you belonged to me."_

He opened his eyes. She wasn't there, no, it was only him.

Alone. 

He turned on his side and tried to pass the sleepless night.


	4. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey has been moved to more comfortable quarters.

Rey woke up in a bed, instead of on the floor. She sat up, examining her surroundings. She was still in a First Order ship, just not in an interrogation room. She walked over to the door, it was locked. Of course. 

She noticed another door on one of the side walls of the room, upon opening she realized it was a bathroom. The interrogation room before had been cell-like, simply with a basin and a toilet. This was better. She had a shower and a bath more. 

She stepped into the shower, slipping off the dress that she still had on from Zalfar, she turned the water on to hot.

Hot showers were a luxury at Resistance bases where power needed to be conserved. Hot,  _long_ showers were also a no for anyone there. But this was the First Order. Rey had no problem with standing under the scathing hot water for as long as she pleased. 

She washed the last few days off of her skin, the frustration of it all. She hoped that the others in the resistance knew that she was okay, she hoped that Leia didn't feel awful after leading her into a trap. 

Rey stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel that was hanging there, tying it around her. In the room, there was a cupboard. Upon opening she saw her clothing options.

Obviously someone had just found every type of female clothing available on the ship and had stocked it with that. There was an officer's uniform, technician overalls, another rank of officers uniform, and then she saw it. A dress. Upon touch she knew that it had come from Anara. It wasn't as sleek as the others, it was similar to the one the queen had been wearing, but in black. There was lace along the neckline and shoulders, and the ends of the dress went outwards slightly. Upon inspecting the material, if you looked at it in a certain light, it would appear red.

She put on the technician overalls. 

She sat on her bed, enjoying the feel of wearing something a little familiar. It was something she would've possibly gone scavenging in in Jakku.

And it wasn't as if she was pretending to be anything else either. She  _was_ a technician of a sort. Perhaps not technically a First Order one but she knew her way around technology. She was not an officer of the First Order and she was definitely not any sort of Queen or royalty.

 

Kylo Ren entered her quarters, finding her sitting on the bed in technicians overalls. 

"I see you found something to wear," he noted.

Rey stood up, "are you going to let me go?"

He sighed, shaking his head, "no, Rey."

She sat back down, "why are you here?"

"Where is the next possible resistance base?"

She pursed her lips, "I. Don't. Know."

"Are you really going to make me take it from you?" he asked.

"I swear, I don't know. They didn't tell me these things."

"I know you're close with my mother. She would've discussed plans with you, surely."

Rey shook her head, "not like this. She wouldn't tell me anything about this."

Kylo shot his arm out, "please, Rey."

"For the last time, Ben, I don't know."

She was suddenly pushed back, she grasped the sheets of the bed in her fists, "you will find nothing."

She fought back against him, trying to worm her way into the confines of his mind. But he knew that she would, he was ready. 

For a long time they struggled, until Kylo backed down, being pushed backwards by Rey.

"I told you," she said, "I don't know."

"I'll find out, somehow."

"And if you find the resistance what will you do?"

Kylo Ren turned to her, "we crush them."

Rey took a breath, "okay. I'm not sure what else I expected."

"What do you want from me, Rey?" he asked, "I will give you anything. Join me and we stop pursuing the resistance. Join me and a new Order will rise, more powerful than any of this."

"I don't want anything," Rey spat at him, standing up, "you can't give me what I want. Not now."

"I do know what you want," he started to walk towards her, "I've seen inside your mind, I've searched your feelings."

Rey sat back down on the bed, "and what do I want?"

He was close to her when he stopped walking, "you want me. You want me to give in. All you want is for me to give in to you, so that you can finally let yourself fall to me without the guilt, the pain."

Rey looked up to him.

"You need to let go," he continued, "these, these notions of hope and light that you keep holding on to, that you desperately cling to, they're fantasies, Rey. You need to look to the future."

She continued to stare into his eyes, wordlessly.

She thought she could see them water up a little.

"The more you resist, the more you hold on, the more it hurts us both. I'm not holding on to anything, Rey. I've let go. You are asking me to turn back to a life that was tearing me apart."

"You had people who loved you," Rey whispered.

Kylo took a breath, "they loved me, right? Do you know what love is, Rey? To love someone is to care about them, to pay attention to them, to give a damn what happened to you. To love is to protect, do you know what these people that 'loved' me did?"

Rey turned away from him.

"They abandoned me. My mother, she put her resistance before me. That was understandable. She was basically holding it on her back. My father, he hated that I wasn't just another version of him. I knew he did. He hated that when he looked at me he saw more of Luke than he saw of himself and my mother. He didn't want that. He barely knew me. He was always, always gone. Smuggling. He didn't need to. He wanted to. He didn't hate me, but he didn't exactly love me."

Rey could feel the anger, the pain rising in him. She kept quiet.

"And Luke, you know what he did. He couldn't bear the thought of me turning to the dark side. So he tried to kill me. The only person left who I could've held on to, the only one who could've helped me tried to kill me. Do you know what that feels like, Rey?"

He breathed slowly, trying to calm himself, "that, that is the life you're asking me to return to, I can't. You think you know betrayal. You think you know love. You do not know it like I do, how could you? You've never suffered the burden of family." 

"They were ready to take you back, Ben," she said.

He shook his head, "they were too late. You don't get second chances like that, not like that."

"You haven't even given me a chance," Rey stood up.

"A chance for what?" he asked.

"To care for you, to love you, to give a damn about you, all you do is tear me down, all do ever do to me is push me away."

"You don't want to love me, Rey."

"How would you know?"

"It would tear you apart, as it does to me."

"Ben..." she held out her hand, but he turned and left, viciously closing the door behind him. Rey shuddered as she felt his presence leave.

She sat down on her bed, exhausted and worn down.

She needed to think about what he said, she realized. She had always thought that it was the dark side holding him back, preventing him from turning to the light. She realized it was also the people in the light, pushing him away.

 

Hux found Kylo Ren on the way to his quarters, "nothing again?" Hux said.

"She's difficult to crack, general."

"If you won't get anything out of her you need to let me..." Kylo stopped in his tracks.

"Touch her, General, and I will kill you."

"You are letting your personal matters get in the way of the First Order. If she's useless to us, _kill her_."

"I need more time, but don't so much as walk near her room," he leaned in close to Hux, "because I will sense it, and I will find a thousand ways to make you sorry."

Kylo then continued. Hux stared after him as he left, the resentment and anger rising in his chest. At the moment, he wanted the girl and Kylo Ren dead at his feet.

 

 


	5. Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The things we lost in the fire, fire, fire..."
> 
> "Do you understand that we will   
> Never be the same again?  
> The future's in our hands and we will  
> Never be the same again."
> 
> Things We Lost in the Fire - Bastille

Everything felt colder after her last conversation with Kylo.

Colder, and lonelier. 

The room had suddenly gotten smaller, her breaths seemed to take in less air. The overalls she had on were suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. She walked over to the cupboard in her room and opened it. She looked at the dress. She touched it. She took it out and laid it on the bed. 

 _Just for one moment,_ she thought.

She took off the overalls and slipped the dress on.

The fabric flowed over her skin like water. 

There was no mirror in her room so she looked down her front to watch how the dress moved as she walked. The feeling of it against her skin, the way it glided across the floor. 

It was black, fading into the rest of the room.

It was definitely Zalfarian, it felt just like the dresses she had worn on those days she had spent waiting for the queen.

Days when she wandered beautiful gardens, explored a palace, a place where she had felt welcomed into a world that had always been out of reach to her. 

She continued to walk around the room, letting the dress flower with her. 

Then she heard the sudden echoing silence.

She turned around and there he was.

"Ben," she whispered.

He looked up, his face seemed hurt, "I'm sorry," he said to her, "for what I said. I couldn't control."

"No," Rey looked at him, "don't be sorry. It helps me understand."

His eyes met hers, then they drifted downwards, she saw him examining the dress. He looked back up at her, "I need you to know..." he started.

"Know what?" she asked.

"As much as you, as much as you hurt me," he took a step towards her, "you're the only thing that's keeping me from falling apart."

Rey tried to take a small step back, but found that she was up against a wall. 

"And... and the longer I keep you here, the more I feel like I'm losing you. The more I try to explain why, the more you see of me. I feel like soon you're going to realize who I am, and then you're going to hate me again, and I'll have lost you."

Rey felt that familiar tinge in her chest as he came even closer, the burn. They were only a breath apart now. She looked up into his eyes.

"And... and I can't lose you. It would break me. I need you. I need you even if I have to be a thousand galaxies away for you to put up with me, I'll always need you."

"Oh, Ben," Rey said. She could see the hurt in his eyes, and she could feel the fire rising in her.

She raised her hands to his head, letting her fingertips brush against his cheeks... and all through the force. She was always surprised at the sensations. At how he was really there with her.

"Rey," he whispered as she pushed herself up to him and their lips met. She had thought that this moment would douse the fire in her, turn it into an ocean. But no, it only made it burn with a passion she would never be able to explain. 

Kylo pinned her to the wall, leaning down. She felt him against her, his hands, his chest, his hips... she crumbled under him.

And then they were apart.

"I need to leave for a while, this ship," he said.

"Ben..."

"I'll come back, I just need time."

He leaned forward one last time, planting a kiss on her forehead.

And then he turned from her, disappearing. 

Rey slid down the wall and sat as she reached the floor. The flame within her was still there, burning, burning.

 

General Hux watched as Kylo's ship left. As soon as he could no longer see it, he turned and with a line of stormtroopers behind him, headed to Rey's quarters.

He opened the door and saw her sitting on the floor, she looked at him, confused, as if she expected to see someone else.

"Stun her," he ordered.

"Wait!" she cried as she was hit by the blast.

Hux turned to the stormtroopers, "take her to one of the interrogation rooms in the deepest confines of the ship. I want her room heavily guarded," he looked at her as one of the troopers lifted her over their shoulder, "and make sure the room is kept cold."

 

Kylo felt Rey calling for him through the force, he felt her pain, her fire as if it were his own.

But he needed to block her off, he couldn't have her with him now. 

He needed to be alone.


	6. The Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo is on the isolated planet of Zeren where he believes he can stay for a while to sift through his thoughts alone.

The planet's red sun rose steadily above the rocky peaks of its mountains. The landscape was barren and the soil was black, rotten. Its mountains contained many caves and crevices, along with high cliffs and terrifying falls. 

The ground of the planet was constantly moving. Earthquakes often shook the planet sending boulders crumbling down the mountain faces and hillsides.

Kylo knew that there was once life here, many years ago. But that life had died and had left behind such a chaotically beautiful sight.

He wandered the valleys of the Zeren, painfully aware of the storm that the force was creating in his mind. He had shut it out, painful as it was, he could not have its influence.

No Rey, no disembodied voice of his father or of Luke, no bouts of divine wisdom...

Whatever choice he made had to be his and his alone. Only then could he follow through with it.

He had hidden his ship in one of the larger caves in the mountains, within it was his lightsaber, locked away in a chest.

He felt naked without his chosen weapon, but it too seemed to have an effect on him. The chosen weapon of Kylo Ren. He figured that there would be no threats out here, his scanners had not picked up any life forms, and if a mountain did happen to crumble on top of him, he would simply use the force to move himself out of danger.

The air was stiff on Zeren, he found himself taking deeper, more strained breaths. The only times when he had relief were inside his ship, where he slept at night.

It was good for him, this place. There was a certain stillness to it, but the planet was still alive. Breathing through it's cracks, moving under the ground. Each day he found himself moving further and further away from his ship.

He came to a place where it looked as if there had been an ocean once upon a time. He saw a trench cracked through the middle of it. The darkness fascinated him, the endlessness of it. He decided to enter.

 

Once within, he walked along a ridge, staring into the dry abyss below. And then, he spotted lights, and movement in the dark. A little closer and he heard the murmur of voices.

This wasn't right, his sensors hadn't picked up any lifeforms on the planet unless...

 _Shields,_  he thought. The Resistance had mastered their use, often using them to mask their location. It had been idiotic, he realized, purposely shutting himself off from force sensitivity. 

He quickly turned, not wanting to confront them when his foot caught on a stray, crumbling rock edge.

 

"Have we got any intel at all on Rey?" Finn asked the captain standing beside him.

"The First Order has her, Finn," said Poe, "we can't do anything about it. Not in the state we're in."

"No," he said, "we don't know that. She could've have gotten lost... or she's still stuck on Zalfar."

"Okay, so the Rey enters Zalfar and less than a week later the First Order and Zalfar and best friends and suddenly Rey's gone missing? It was a trap, Finn. They have her."

Finn turned back to the captain, " _any_ intel?" he asked again.

She shook her head, "her ship is still on Zalfar, we know that much but none of our contacts have seen her there, and the Queen remains firmly silent on the deal that happened between the First Order and her kingdom."

"We sent her into a trap," Poe said, sitting down, "we shouldn't have let her go alone."

"The Queen needed our trust," General Organa said, walking into the room, "it seems we did not have hers."

Finn turned to her, "do you think the First Order has her, General?" Finn asked.

General Organa breathed and looked to the ground, "I don't want to believe it, Finn, but it seems there are no other options. It's been too long. She would've sent some signal to us if she wasn't..."

Finn looked downcast, turning away from everyone. 

"I don't want to think of her in the hands of that monster."

"I don't either, Finn, but Rey is strong. She'll find a way. Or we build up our strength to get her back," Poe said, putting his hand on Finn's shoulder.

"General," the captain signaled her, watching a screen, "you better take a look at this."

"What is it?"

"There's a heat signature here. Someone's in the trench."

"Did we see anybody land?"

"There was that object a few days ago, but after nothing happened we assumed it was a meteorite or something."

"Dameron, go and check it out. Take Finn with you, I'd send others but we're still very few after..."

"We'll go, General."

Just as they stood up they heard falling rock and a cry of pain. All heads shot up.

Poe and Finn looked at each other quickly before grabbing their blasters and heading into the trench.

 

The resistance had set up their small base in a cave, it was spacious enough to store and repair new ships for their pilots, hold rooms for their members and also plan out their strategies. The planet was a valuable find as well, isolated. The air on the surface was too dangerous to stay in for a long time, but underground there were pockets of oxygen in the caves. 

The trench was not as deep as a passerby would expect, but the fall was enough to kill most people.

Kylo Ren had been able to cushion himself with the force at the last minute, but the fall down had caused him to hit his arm on some rock, breaking it, he supposed from the rush of unbearable pain that came from it.

He saw figures with lights heading towards him and was about to black out when she called out to him again,  _"Ben, please."_

_"Rey."_

_"I can't... please... come back... they're going to kill me... Ben..."_

Suddenly, he saw her. She was lying, her head bruised, on the floor of an interrogation chamber. He started to panic, trying to fight the oncoming darkness.

 _"It's so cold,"_  was the last thing he heard.

 

Finn and Poe stood staring.

"Is that...?" Poe asked.

"Yup," Finn replied.

"Here?"

"Yup."

"What the hell is he doing here?"

Finn turned to Poe, "I don't know, but if it wasn't for Rey I swear I'd shoot him right now."

"Oh don't do that," Poe walked over to Kylo, grabbing a hold of his arm, "he doesn't deserve a slow death, now help me carry him back to base, he's heavy as hell."

Kylo groaned in pain as the two of them dragged him back up the rock.

 

Leia Organa nearly fainted in shock at the sight of her bloodied son being carried into the base.


	7. Fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey struggles to remain in touch with reality, desperately trying to seek out Kylo for help. Kylo is confronted by the Resistance.

The drugs that they had injected into her on the very first day were still in her system.

She could feel them in her veins, pulsating, sending waves of pain and horror throughout her body. Everything was amplified, the lights on the walls, the shocking coldness of the room, the words that Hux screamed at her. It was hell. 

The beatings from the second day had left her shattered.

She truly did not have the answers Hux was looking for, and she would never have told him, no matter how many times he ordered one of the stormtroopers to give her a kick to the stomach that would send her reeling across the room.

The force was a blur around her now, a distant light, too small to focus on. She would try and reach out to it, call to it, but each time she would just fade to darkness.

A darkness she had never felt so terribly before.

An utter loneliness, so cold and breaking. 

She felt more lost than she had ever been before.

It was the drugs, she told herself, that horrid liquid that they had painfully forced into her. She could not, would not let herself fall into that deepness.

On the third day, she did not say anything. This time Hux lost his temper, after a few hours of her stiff silence. 

There was blood on the floor at the end of the third day.

And then, on the fourth day, he told her that he would kill her.

She had no information for them, he said, and if she did she certainly was not about to tell them. The only thing stopping him from giving the kill order was the absence of the Supreme Leader.

He had knelt down, close to her head, and told her that until he returned, he would make her feel as though she was dead.

Space was a cold place, so desperately cold. Just about every ship in the galaxy had highly sophisticated heating systems in order to keep the insides a livable temperature. Hux ordered for the heating in Rey's room to be set to 5%.

They injected her with something else before they left the room.

Rey had not thought that such a cold even existed.

She had grown up on a desperately hot planet, and now how she longed for it. 

She realized that whatever drug that they had given her was preventing her from sleeping. She would close her eyes, try and let the cold take her, try and fade away into it, but she could not. When she was close to sleep, something would wake her, something awful that felt like sickness in her head.

She had to try, she realized, it was her last hope.

She needed to reach Kylo, she needed to reach Ben.

He was shutting himself off from her, and she was too weak to feel the force.

But she had to try, it was her last hope.

That light, she could see it... in the darkness, shimmering. 

And then she felt it.

The fall, the cry, the shock, the pain.

Bones breaking, blood flowing.

_Oh, Ben, what have you done?_

Then she saw him, and he saw her.

She must have said something, before he left her, he needed to know. He needed to come back.

 _"I_ can't..."...feel anything..." _please... come back..."_  ...don't leave me in this cold..." _they're going to kill me... Ben..."_

Something about the cold.

_"It's so cold."_

And then, nothing.

 

Kylo woke up in a med bay, staring at a ceiling of rock.

He groaned at the pain that roared from all over his body. His leg, his arm, his sides... he was disorientated... trying to remember what brought him here... where he was...

Rey, the planet, isolation, the trench, the lights... he had slipped and fallen down into the darkness... before he had blacked out he had seen her... _Rey._

She was in trouble. It was Hux. Hux, that bastard! She was in pain... he could feel it now. Hers on top of his own... and it was cold. She was slowly freezing to death and he was stuck here.

He jerked up, trying to get out of the bed, but he was held back by chains, pinning him to the bed.

He saw a woman in the room, she stood up as soon as he tried to get out.

"You, get me out of this."

The girl stood staring at him for a moment, eyes wide, full of fear.

"Do you want to save Rey or not?"

"You know where Rey is?" 

"Get me out of this!"

The girl quickly rushed out of the room leaving Kylo yelling after her.

 

Poe and Finn were discussing what to do with Kylo Ren when Rose ran into the room, "you guys." she said.

"What is it?" they asked in unison.

"He's awake."

 

"You have ten seconds to explain why we should keep you alive," Poe said as he walked into the room.

Kylo looked up in recognition of the voice, "Dameron, we meet again."

"Nine."

"I know where Rey is. We don't have much time."

"What happened to her?" Rose asked.

"We- General Hux captured her. The negotiations with the Queen of Zalfar was a trap. Hux believed we could get valuable information out of Rey but as it turns out," he took a breath, "she's strong. We got nothing. I was going to let her go but-"

"Hold on," Finn butted in, stepping forward, "you, Kylo Ren, were going to let Rey go?"

"She was no longer useful to the First Order."

"But you didn't kill her," Poe said, "and five seconds."

"I. Can't. Kill. Her." he said slowly. "And you can stop with your idiotic countdown, you won't kill me, you need me."

"Why is that? And three."

"My ship, you can use it to get into the First Order's cruiser."

The three looked at each other, "you are suggesting you help us rescue Rey?" Rose asked.

Kylo took a breath, "yes."

"He's delusional from the pain drugs, we should knock him out," Poe said.

"Just wait," Rose said, "why do you want to rescue Rey?"

"General Hux is slowly killing her, in an extremely torturous way."

"And why do you care?" Poe asked.

"Because I can feel every second of it."

The three were silent for a minute, "what... what do you mean?" Finn asked.

"I don't have time to explain. She will die if you don't do something now."

"What if you're lying and this is another trap?" Poe asked, "it would be awfully convenient if the First Order managed to capture and kill off some of the Resistance's last pilots, wouldn't it."

"I could have killed you," Kylo said.

They turned to him.

"I have the force. I could've snapped your neck the minute you came in here and then threatened one of your friends to release me. But I didn't. I need you. You need to help me help Rey or she dies."

"You could just be weak," Poe said, "from the fall. Hell, you've just about broken your arm, your leg, two ribs... I doubt you could knock over a bottle in the state you're-"

Before he could finish his sentence Kylo grabbed him and flung his body towards where he lay, their heads nearly touching.

"You want proof? Here it is."

Kylo touched their heads together briefly, and in that moment Poe saw Rey. She lay on the ground, shivering, her skin blue. He could feel her pain rising from her body. Her eyes opened.

" _Ben, help me... please."_

Kylo then pushed him away, flinging him to the other side of the room.

Poe slid to the ground, Finn and Rose rushing to his side. Poe looked at Kylo with a face of confusion and anger.

"He's telling the truth."

"How- how do you know it's not a trick?" Finn asked.

Poe turned to him, "I know. Go and get a scouting party to find his ship... which is?" he looked at Kylo.

"To the east, there's a large mountain range about a 5 hours walk from here. It's in a cave. It's an average ship class any pilot can fly it."

Finn nodded to Poe and left the room with Rose.

Poe pushed himself up and walked over to Kylo's bed, "for the record, I still think you're a monster."

Poe reached out to Kylo's injured arm, wrapping his fist around it. Kylo's breathing became heavy out of the pain.

"But... you let me see inside your mind. And I saw enough," he looked at him, "you love her? Don't you?"

Kylo remained silent, his eyes sending daggers towards Poe.

"It doesn't matter. None of that mattered. You're still out to kill us, to kill the resistance and everything we stand for. Rey is different. She sees hope, she can see the light."

He took his hand off of Kylo's arm, Kylo sighed from the release of pain.

"Don't lead her down the same path as you, Kylo Ren. She's too good for you, she's too good for this world... and if you ever hurt her, if you ever turn her away from the light," Poe turned away from him, about to leave the room, "I will make it my personal vendetta to kill you in the cruelest, most painful way I can."

Poe left the room.

 

Kylo was alone with himself for a while. All he could think of was Rey and the pain. Her pain as well as his. He tried to draw his mind away from her, towards her friends.

From these people Kylo had felt an intense passion that rose from them.

They were fighting for something they truly believed in, something that they felt was so strong and bright that nothing could ever make it burn out, or fade from existence.

They all had that same passion for Rey, she was their symbol of light, of hope. The last Jedi, the last spark.

They had a love for her, an intense caring, protecting love. The same he often felt for her. It wasn't a painful burn for them though, as it was for him. They loved her with a thrilling warmth, the love of a family.

This is what he was asking her to leave behind, he realized. She was not really coming to him from nothing, she came to him from the arms of these people. 

He was asking her to disregard their love for his. His love, now, offered nothing but darkness, conflict, a painful burn that ignited the soul.

The weight of his selfishness was slowly setting in when there came a knock at the door.

He didn't answer, he knew who it was.

Leia Organa walked into the room.

 

They did not say anything for a long time, just staring at each other in silence. 

Kylo looked at her face, into her eyes, at the way her hands drifted at her sides.

He could feel the sadness rising in the air between them, the grief, the suffering. The regret was starting to ache in his chest. He was staring at a love he had thought he had lost.

His eyes were watering when she started to come closer to him.

"My son," she whispered.

"Mother," he breathed.

She sat on the edge of his bunk, placing her hand softly on his. 

"I can't stay here," he said to her.

She looked into his eyes, "I know."

She sat there with him, Kylo couldn't turn away from her, couldn't let her know the aching she was causing in his heart.

But she knew, she already knew.

His mother, his mother who had passed onto him his knowledge of the force, his mother who had never given up on her son, even after he had murdered her love and his Order was crushing her resistance, she had never lost her hope.

Leia reached out to touch his hair, letting her fingers touch the scar on his face. She drew her hand back and stood up.

"There will always be light in you, Ben," was all she said before she left.

Kylo lay there, another weight had been placed upon his chest. The dull throb of loss beat steadily alongside his broken heart.


	8. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rescue mission is launched in order to save Rey from General Hux.

Rey saw herself lying on the ground.

She looked at the blue tinge that had settled over her skin, at the way her body was curled. She watched as she saw herself shivering in her sleep. It was so real, but how could she be standing, watching over her?

The cold, the frozen pain that had been grasping her seemed like a far off whisper now, a memory. 

She knelt down, thinking that she could reach out and wake herself up...

And then she was gone.

Somewhere else now.

She was in a cave, surrounded by computers and people walking around. She recognized the uniforms.  _The resistance._

Slowly, she walked through the corridors. Familiar voices rose from around her. Finn and Poe, Rose, General Organa...

They were like ghosts before her, their faces distant. Not noticing her. She needed to let them know that she was alright. But she didn't know if she would be telling them the truth.

And suddenly she was away from them, from there.

She was standing in a room, in what looked like the palace in Anara on Zalfar.

But it was different, the colors were darker, more foreboding. On the walls hung torches lit with a burning, red flame. Her eyes drifted towards the throne, a darkened figure was standing there.

"Ben?" she asked.

Kylo Ren turned around, lightsaber drawn, dressed in a black robe.

He did not say anything, he only looked at her. She looked right back, staring into the deepness of his eyes.

"Where are you, Ben?" she asked.

"You keep looking for him," he said, taking a step forward, "Rey, please."

"I can help you," she breathed, trying to reach for him.

"You don't understand Rey, you can't understand. You never burned for Ben Solo, you never let yourself become enchanted by the Darkness for Ben Solo..."

"No, Ben," Rey started towards him, "I don't. I don't understand, I can see him in you, he's there. There's light in you, in him."

He was right in front of her now, his hand reaching out for hers.

"The light," he said, "is never drawn towards the light," his fingertips brushed hers, "you've let yourself fall to the darkness, you fell into the heart of Kylo Ren, Rey, not Ben Solo."

When she looked up at him again she could see a tear fall down the path of his scar, "and it's tearing us apart."

His last words were only an echo in her mind when she opened up her eyes again.

"So where will she be?" Poe asked.

"One of the interrogation rooms at the bottom of the ship, you won't be able to use the the general hangar, there's another entrance, I'll show you-"

Finn managed to find a hologram of the First Order ship, Kylo pointed out the entrance, giving them the code they needed in order to access it.

"Take a droid with you," he said, "the minute you land get it to turn the heating up in every interrogation chamber in the K sector of the ship, that's where she'll be and it'll buy you more time."

"Anything else?" Poe turned the hologram off.

"In the storage compartment of my ship, the one you're going to use, there are some spare suits of Stormtrooper armor. I suggest you dress appropriately to avoid getting caught the second you're there."

"What if they ask where you are?" Finn asked.

Kylo sighed, "there's something else in my storage compartment, another suit of my own armor. There's a cloak and hood too. They won't buy it for long, but you'll get at least a few minutes to get into the ship and start looking for Rey."

"Do we get your lightsaber too?" Finn asked.

Kylo glared at him, "No."

Finn and Poe left the room, already an intense debate over who would be in the Kylo disguise, Rose stayed behind.

"What is it?" Kylo asked.

"Nothing- I- I just..." she looked up at him, he could sense the fear in her, looking at him. The pain as well, the sorrow... "thank you. That's all I wanted to say."

"I'm doing this for Rey," he said, "nothing else has changed."

"I know, I know... it's just, what you're doing. I get it." She then turned to follow Poe and Finn to the ship.

"You know what I think it suits me."

"Shut up Poe, we're getting near the ship, what was the code again?"

"28E-472 Float Red," Rose said, "when they ask for identification we just say that."

Finn turned to Poe, "put the cloak on, cover your face."

Poe pulled the hood of the cloak on, obscuring his face. "Is this fine?" he asked.

Finn nodded, "just promise me that when we have Rey you take that damn thing off as quickly as possible."

"Well someone is anxious to see you without any clothes on, Dameron," Rose snickered. 

Finn was about to say something when Rose put her hand up, she pressed a button on the control board, "this is Hangar K-2 requesting identification for entry," came a voice.

"28E-472 Float Red," Finn said into the speaker through the stormtrooper helmet.

There was silence for a moment before the reply, "permission granted, please be wary of other ships when entering the hangar."

They all sighed in relief, "Rose, helmet on. Poe, make sure your face is covered and..." Finn looked him up and down, "make yourself look a little taller maybe."

The door to the ship opened and the three of them walked out, a few stormtroopers turned to look at them as they left but turned away when they saw Kylo's armor. BB-8 Rolled out behind them, Finn turned to the droid, "do what we told you, okay?"

BB-8 let out some beeps and rolled quickly to the nearby control panel in the hangar.

Rey could feel the room becoming warmer, slowly, but surely she could begin to feel sensations on her skin again.

She closed her eyes, trying to find Ben, to see if he was there...

He wasn't. Where was he?

She didn't have time to reach out and call for him before she faded into darkness again.

"Here's the interrogation rooms, sector K, right?" Poe asked.

Finn nodded, "come on BB-8, just open them all up."

BB-8 rolled towards a small control panel in the wall and started messing with the switches. A stormtrooper began walking down the passageway. He slowed a little, noticing who he thought was Kylo Ren. Poe lowered his head more in order to hide his face.

"Sir," the stormtrooper, "I was unaware that you had returned."

Poe quickly turned to Finn, "uhh," said Finn, "the Supreme Leader did not want to cause any disturbance upon returning."

"Well, in that case-" the stormtrooper stopped mid-sentence as all of the interrogation room doors opened at once, "what the hell?"

Rose raised her blaster and shot the stormtrooper before he could respond, "look for Rey!" she yelled as they spread out.

Poe took the hood off and started to run down the passage, looking through each door, "there are going to more coming soon. They would've heard that."

"Guys! I found her," Finn called out, running into the furtherest room.

_ "Fin,"  _ she tried to say, all that came out was a dishevelled cough.

 

Rey only barely saw the door open, she had a little strength now, without the cold pinning her down, but she still couldn't call out. She sighed in relief when it was Finn who ran into the room and not General Hux.

_ "Fin,"  _ she tried to say, all that came out was a dishevelled cough.

"Guys! I found her," he yelled before running in and skidding to a stop by Rey. He knelt down and picked her up. He nearly gasped at how weak she felt. 

"We got you, Rey," he said to her, "we got you."

He heard Rose yell that there were more troopers coming.

Finn put the helmet back on and carried Rey out of the room.

Poe ran out in front of them, "quick! The prisoner is escaping with those two stormtroopers!" he called out.

They heard sounds of confusion and then guns firing, Poe ran back to them, "I think they know I'm not Kylo Ren now."

"We have to get back to the ship, now!" Finn said, "she needs medical attention."

 

The three managed to get to the ship safely, only having to outfly a few small fighters before going into hyperdrive.

Hux stood in the hangar, his head turning a red shade of rage.

"How," he said to a captain, "did they get Kylo Ren's ship?"

"I don't know sir."

"How," he turned to the captain, "did they get the access codes?"

"I don't know sir."

General Hux stared viciously at the captain, "I fear Kylo Ren has turned traitor. If we see his ship again, shoot it down. We're changing every access code and let the entirety of the First Order know that if Kylo Ren is seen he is to be killed on site."

"Yes, General Hux."

 

Rey woke up in a med bay. 

Finn was sitting next to her, asleep in a chair. "Finn," she whispered.

Instantly Finn jolted up, "what? Who? What is it?"

He saw Rey sitting on the bed next to her, smiling at him.

"Oh, Rey," he sighed, hugging her, "I'm so glad you're back."

"Me too," she said softly, her throat ached horribly.

"Where are we?"

"Resistance base, it's an isolated planet. We're safe here."

Suddenly Rey felt it, the pull of the force. "He's here," she said, looking up.

"Who?"

"Ben." Rey pulled off the various wires attached to her and jumped out of the bed, heading out of the room.

"What? Rey, no you can't you're too weak!"

"What's going on here?" Poe walked out into the corridor, he saw Rey stumbling down it. "Rey, what are you doing?"

"He's here," she said.

"He's leaving."

Rey rushed down into a large open space in the base, in the cave. She saw him there, Kylo, about to enter his ship.  


"Ben, wait!"

Kylo turned around, "Rey." he said.

She ran as fast she could in her state, wrapping her arms around him as they came together, "I'm sorry." she whispered.

"You, you have nothing to be sorry about."

She put a hand on his cheek, letting it lightly brush down, "please, stay."

 

"I can't."

She took a breath, "you can't go back, Ben. You know you can't go back to the First Order now."

"I know."

"Then where will you go?"

"Somewhere where I can't hurt you anymore."

"No, you will always hurt me. Always, Ben. It doesn't matter if you're here or with the First Order or a thousand galaxies away, you will always be with me, torturing me. Tormenting my mind," she laid her head on his chest, "but it would be so much better if you stayed here with me."

"You know that I can't stay here with you, these people, they need you. They hate me."

Rey let go, taking a step back.

"I was wrong Rey. You aren't nothing. You're like a sun. So bright, bringing light and life to these people, to the Resistance. I was wrong about them too, they do have a chance. There is hope."

She had tears forming in her eyes, "you can't leave."

"It's not up to you."

"Will you come back?"

"I don't know."

"You have to."

Kylo didn't say anything, he leant forward, kissing her lightly on the forehead, before heading back into his ship.

Rey stood back as the door closed and the ship took off, they looked at each other one last time before the ship left the base.

She felt that burn again. The one that never left.

She turned around to see the entirety of the Resistance as an audience to what had just happened.

"Rey," Finn said, stepping forward, "you have a whole lot of explaining to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that this chapter was kind of weak but I'm going to carry on, don't worry!
> 
> Thank you to everyone reading and commenting you're all amazing ^.^


	9. Undying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end, finally.

Kylo Ren stood on the edge of the cliff. He watched the waves crash against the shoreline as the sun set out on the sea. The sky was an amazing display of light and colour. He knew that soon night would come, and the only lights left in the sky would be the planet's three moons and the infinite amount of stars.

He could feel the force trying to weave it's way into his thoughts.

He closed his eyes, he didn't want to let it in...

Soon though, he couldn't hold it back. He needed to give in. It was the only way.

_All empires must fall._

"You think I don't know?"

Lightyears away, General Hux was starting a new era for the First Order. One that he would rule. He planned on expanding the reach of his order, on destroying every planet that got in his way, on siezing entire systems to join and serve him. They would go deep into the outer rim... into planets untouched, find temples unkown, ones that had been lost into obscurity over time... he would find a force greater than Kylo Ren, greater than any Sith lord. And with it, he would control the galaxy.

_Even those with the most power, with the best intentions, must in the end succumb to fate. They too must fall._

On the planet of Zalfar, the city of Anara was burning.

The First Order, in only a few hours, had dismantled its trading routes and had invaded the city. The palace was crumbling. The Queen sat prisoner on a First Order ship, awaiting trial. Okkara waited for her fiery end in the bowels of the castle, and what had once been a shining example of resiliance and power would soon lie in ashes.

_The only thing that will continue to stand, that will continue to grow, to build, is the force._

Rey sat by a window in the Resistance base, staring up at the night sky. Deep down, she feared that she would never see Ben Solo... that she would never see Kylo Ren again. She was strong, she could live, probably, if he never came back... but not without losing a piece of herself. A vital part of her soul, something deeply intertwined in her heart.

Yes, she could survive if he did not come back. She would continue to breathe, to eat, to sleep, and possibly lead the Resistance.

But she would not be living, not really.

"What is my path?" Kylo asked.

_You need to go home._

"Where is it?"

_It's where you feel safe. It's where you're loved. It's where the balance is. It's where hope lives._

"I don't know if I can. I don't know if I'm strong enough."

_You don't have to be, you never had to be. Someone is there to help you._

Kylo Ren closed his eyes and thought of Rey... could he do that to her? Force her to put him back together? Give his broken soul to her and expect her to fix it?

_Your grandfather, Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker. He was turned to the Dark Side of the force through love, through such a strong and burning love that it destroyed both himself and the one he loved._

Kylo Ren breathed slowly.

_If you are to finish what your grandfather started, you must turn away from the Dark Side through such a love, and use the light to mend what has been broken, to replace what has been stolen, to return balance to the force._

"What if I can't..? After everything that's happened..."

_Do you not listen to your own words? You must let the past die. Let it fade. Do not look ahead, do not look behind... focus on the now, Ben Solo. What do you see?_

Kylo turned to the sun, he watched as it set on the darkened ocean. He saw the reflection of the stars and moons in the water.

"Light," he said.

_Then go to it, Grandson._

Kylo turned around and saw a man standing there. He had deep, blue eyes. Within them he held such an ancient history. An untold love story, the shadow of anger, the pain of loss, a memory of the dark side and now... a dawning of hope.

"Skywalker," Kylo breathed as the ghost left him.

He knew what he had to do.

 

Rey ran out of the trench as soon as she could sense him. She didn't even know if it was really him, or just the hopefullness of her mind playing tricks on her.

She climbed the rock until the light brushed her face. In the morning light, she saw a ship landing a while away.

"Ben!" she called out as he exited the ship.

She ran towards him, and he towards her. And they collided, the Dark finally meeting with the Light. Two souls, two fires, igniting as one under the new day dawning above them.

He held her, letting his hands rest on her back and in her hair. She held onto him as if letting go would send him away again.

When finally they looked into each others eyes, Rey began to cry. 

Ben Solo was standing before her, hope was standing before her.

They embraced once more before returning together to the Resistance base. This was a new era for the Resistance. A Resistance against evil with not one but two Jedis at the forefront.

A new day was dawning for the galaxy.

A renewed hope.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! I hope you enjoyed. ^.^ All of your comments and feedback on this has been amazing, thank you so much!


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